Jobs are a lot like jeans.
Some people are content with any job, as long as it is putting money in their pocket. Some people are content with any jeans, as long as is covering up their legs.
Some people just want to wear name brand jeans. Some people just want to have fancy sounding positions at famous companies.
The most difficult and courageous though, is when someone wants to find those jeans that fit just right(potentially more on that later on), when someone needs to find that job so perfect that it doesn't even feel like a job. It isn't likely that the first pair of jeans will fit perfectly, nor will the first job.
Hell, what is perfect now might not be perfect in the future, people change weight just like people change life situations; an I-Banker might be the perfect fit right out of college, but it would be impossible to raise a family in that position. Sometimes a tailor can make the little adjustments or an internal move within a company might be the perfect fit, but more often not.
I guess you can say the motivation for this stems both from my difficulty with finding jeans, as well as recently turning in my resignation at my first "real" job.
It wasn't easy.
Actually, in retrospect, it went seamlessly; the only not-easy part was the period of time between realizing it wasn't a fit, and letting the appropriate people know. Just like retail employees can tell when jeans don't fit, coworkers, mentors and managers can tell when a position isn't a fit; alerting them of the lack of fit is actually a relief on both ends, because it ends their guessing.
It dawned on me that I was a blueberry trying to make his way on a battleship, and as such wasn't a mutually beneficial situation.
Do I know where I will end up next?
No fucking clue. Just time to try on another.
Don't be afraid to find those perfect jeans... even if it means walking around naked for a bit.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tim Tebow vs Hines Ward
Tim Tebow and Hines Ward were both stellar quarterbacks earlier on in their football careers, but neither had substantial success at quarterback in the NFL, albeit for very different reasons.
Hines Ward began transitioning to the wide receiver position while attending the University of Georgia, while still getting some snaps in at quarterback. He isn't a very tall guy, so the linemen would tower over him by about a half a foot in the pros. When he got to the NFL, his receiver duties became full-time... and he went on to become the Steeler's all time leading receiver.
On the other hand, Tim Tebow played quarterback throughout his high school and college career, winning 2 Nation Championships and a Heisman Trophy while at the University of Florida. He is definitely a taller guy than Hines Ward, but many critics pointed out that his awkward throwing motion wouldn't allow him enough time to consistently get passes to receivers before the defense would reach him... and the critics were proved right. His awkward throwing motion manifested itself in him moving around to 3 teams in his first 3 years, being cut by each, and now being a free agent.
Many thought that due to his awkward throwing motion, Tebow should attempt to make the switch to receiver or tight end, and although he loved football, you could tell his passion was specifically around playing quarterback. On the other hand, it was easy to see that Hines Ward's true passion was with football itself, not any particular position... one would almost get the sense that he would line up at center if that is what he was needed to do.
Sometimes continuing along a path in the face of immense adversity will yield magical things: some of the great works of art weren't considered so great at the time, the revenue model for sites like Facebook are completely backwards relative to more traditional models, and Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now despite being one of the shortest.
For every one of those stories, their are a significantly larger number of failed startups and perpetually free agent quarterbacks... sometimes it's best to stick it through, and sometimes it's best to switch positions.
Hines Ward began transitioning to the wide receiver position while attending the University of Georgia, while still getting some snaps in at quarterback. He isn't a very tall guy, so the linemen would tower over him by about a half a foot in the pros. When he got to the NFL, his receiver duties became full-time... and he went on to become the Steeler's all time leading receiver.
On the other hand, Tim Tebow played quarterback throughout his high school and college career, winning 2 Nation Championships and a Heisman Trophy while at the University of Florida. He is definitely a taller guy than Hines Ward, but many critics pointed out that his awkward throwing motion wouldn't allow him enough time to consistently get passes to receivers before the defense would reach him... and the critics were proved right. His awkward throwing motion manifested itself in him moving around to 3 teams in his first 3 years, being cut by each, and now being a free agent.
Many thought that due to his awkward throwing motion, Tebow should attempt to make the switch to receiver or tight end, and although he loved football, you could tell his passion was specifically around playing quarterback. On the other hand, it was easy to see that Hines Ward's true passion was with football itself, not any particular position... one would almost get the sense that he would line up at center if that is what he was needed to do.
Sometimes continuing along a path in the face of immense adversity will yield magical things: some of the great works of art weren't considered so great at the time, the revenue model for sites like Facebook are completely backwards relative to more traditional models, and Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now despite being one of the shortest.
For every one of those stories, their are a significantly larger number of failed startups and perpetually free agent quarterbacks... sometimes it's best to stick it through, and sometimes it's best to switch positions.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
To Get Better, Compete
I grew up as an athlete... if you consider bowling a sport(which I do), and transitioned to bodybuilding and powerlifting early on in college, while still bowling collegiately.
With any sport, or pretty much anything for that matter, you will have some periods of new high series, personal records and muscle gain, but there will also be periods of seemingly endless stagnation.
From experience, I feel like there is one way to to tip the scale in favor of continued growth... competition. The fear of making yourself look like a fool in front of others always seems to be enough to take the intensity from working out to training, from bowling to practicing, from looking at a text book to actually studying, or from writing a little code and checking a little email to building some of the most awesome shit in the world.
With any sport, or pretty much anything for that matter, you will have some periods of new high series, personal records and muscle gain, but there will also be periods of seemingly endless stagnation.
From experience, I feel like there is one way to to tip the scale in favor of continued growth... competition. The fear of making yourself look like a fool in front of others always seems to be enough to take the intensity from working out to training, from bowling to practicing, from looking at a text book to actually studying, or from writing a little code and checking a little email to building some of the most awesome shit in the world.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Readings of 2013, Part 4
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell:
This is a hodge-podge of stories of everything ranging on everything from the dire fate of fancy ketchup to makeup wars to birth control. The short stories don't really have much in common, but they all left me feeling slightly more knowledgable in an "I'm not really sure how I will use this in everyday life" sort of way, but none the less I don't think I will ever look at ketchup the same(not for the worse of better) way.
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell:
This book definitely had a much more profound statement to make than the above book: things that appear to be weaknesses, aren't always so. The title of the book is a reference to the biblical story of David and Goliath, where the behemoth of a man, Goliath, was bested in a fight to the death by the diminutive David... who used just a sling and some stones.
Contrary to the obvious, David wasn't quite the underdog that he originally appeared to be... Goliath was armed with heavy armor and swords, perfectly suited for close combat, but a sitting duck for David and his high velocity stones. This was the common theme throughout the book... people can be very successful with apparent disadvantages, simply by playing a slightly different game.
This is a hodge-podge of stories of everything ranging on everything from the dire fate of fancy ketchup to makeup wars to birth control. The short stories don't really have much in common, but they all left me feeling slightly more knowledgable in an "I'm not really sure how I will use this in everyday life" sort of way, but none the less I don't think I will ever look at ketchup the same(not for the worse of better) way.
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell:
This book definitely had a much more profound statement to make than the above book: things that appear to be weaknesses, aren't always so. The title of the book is a reference to the biblical story of David and Goliath, where the behemoth of a man, Goliath, was bested in a fight to the death by the diminutive David... who used just a sling and some stones.
Contrary to the obvious, David wasn't quite the underdog that he originally appeared to be... Goliath was armed with heavy armor and swords, perfectly suited for close combat, but a sitting duck for David and his high velocity stones. This was the common theme throughout the book... people can be very successful with apparent disadvantages, simply by playing a slightly different game.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Open the Damn Editor
We all have days when it is pretty hard to get stuff done.... email, meetings, phone calls, more email, some im'ing, and some more email just for good taste and the next thing you know it's time to go home. In short, it's a whole lot easier to be busy than productive.
When I notice this happening, I do one simple thing... I open up my damn editor. I am a software engineer, so the text editor is my medium for creation. A poet's "editor" would be some pen and paper, an artist's a canvas and some paint, and a sculptor's a lump of raw clay.
Opening up the editor isn't the entire battle, but if you don't open it, you will never get shit done.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
The Weakest Link Lie
"A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.".. or one of the many variations on the popular aphorism.
Everybody says it, but I don't really believe it.
Do you really feel any worse off by your inability to write with your opposite hand? Are legendary basketball teams that way because of their starting 5 or there 12th man? Will my tiny biceps hinder my squat?
We all have weaknesses, and we are made to think that we need to always bring up those weaknesses. Sometimes our weak links really do hinder us, and then we definitely should strive to brink them up; but most of the time the return on investment of nourishing our strengths will be much greater.
The weak link only matters if it is in the part of the chain that is being used.
Everybody says it, but I don't really believe it.
Do you really feel any worse off by your inability to write with your opposite hand? Are legendary basketball teams that way because of their starting 5 or there 12th man? Will my tiny biceps hinder my squat?
We all have weaknesses, and we are made to think that we need to always bring up those weaknesses. Sometimes our weak links really do hinder us, and then we definitely should strive to brink them up; but most of the time the return on investment of nourishing our strengths will be much greater.
The weak link only matters if it is in the part of the chain that is being used.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
The First 1000 Pound Squat
Prior to 1984, nobody had ever squatted 1000 pounds, but Lee Moran changed all of that on his third attempt at the USPF Senior Nationals.
That's what the record books remember, however those same record books won't show you what happened on his first 2 attempts. On his first attempt, he let his chest fall a tad bit and rolled the bar over his neck and head... knocking himself out cold. On his second attempt, it became apparent that nobody had ever squatted 1000 pounds before, so barbells weren't really made to accommodate 1000 pounds. The plates and the clips could barely fit on the sleeves, one of the clips slipped off and off went all the plates on that side, sending the barbell and other half of the plates flying off in the other direction... almost knocking everybody else out cold.
We are all guilty of looking at the Pandoras, Dropboxes and 1000-pound squatters of this world, and seeing the end result, while completely missing the sleepless nights, lawsuits, and knockouts. If you want to change the world or squat 1000(well now 1400) pounds, be aware that you may encounter short barbells or be seeing stars along the way.
That's what the record books remember, however those same record books won't show you what happened on his first 2 attempts. On his first attempt, he let his chest fall a tad bit and rolled the bar over his neck and head... knocking himself out cold. On his second attempt, it became apparent that nobody had ever squatted 1000 pounds before, so barbells weren't really made to accommodate 1000 pounds. The plates and the clips could barely fit on the sleeves, one of the clips slipped off and off went all the plates on that side, sending the barbell and other half of the plates flying off in the other direction... almost knocking everybody else out cold.
We are all guilty of looking at the Pandoras, Dropboxes and 1000-pound squatters of this world, and seeing the end result, while completely missing the sleepless nights, lawsuits, and knockouts. If you want to change the world or squat 1000(well now 1400) pounds, be aware that you may encounter short barbells or be seeing stars along the way.
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